Scottish degrees most expensive in the UK – will cost RUK students more than £30,000

The average fee in England is £8,393 making a typical three-year degree in England cost £25,179 (see note 1).

The average headline cost of a degree in Scotland will be £27,083 (see note 2).

However, taking account of where RUK students study, with over 40% at Edinburgh and St Andrews, the average student from the rest of the UK will pay £30,628 for a degree in Scotland (see note 3).

NUS Scotland has called on the Scottish Government to intervene to ensure degree costs are reduced and minimum standards for bursaries are introduced to protect access for students from the rest of the UK.

Robin Parker, NUS Scotland President said: “Every university in Scotland has now set the price of its degree and the results are startling.

"The average degree, and I repeat average, will cost more than the very maximum allowed in England.

"When you look at the fact that over 40% of students from England, Wales and Northern Ireland study at Edinburgh and St Andrews universities, where degrees will cost £36,000, the real average degree will cost over £30,000. And this figure doesn’t even take into account the additional year of living costs in Scotland.

“It’s shameful that Scotland will be the most expensive place to study in the whole of the UK for students from England, Wales and Northern Ireland. This system is one that simply allows principals to cash in on students from the rest of UK, and that’s unjustifiable.

"Fee increases in Scotland are a direct result of Westminster’s betrayal of students, and trebling of fees, and this decision was forced on Scotland.

"We also recognise that something needed to be done to prevent Scottish students being squeezed out of university. However this system is entirely the wrong response.

“Principals were given a huge responsibility to set fees, but they’ve shown that they can’t be trusted. Now that every university has set its fee level, we can see that Scotland’s fees system has gone beyond even what we’ve seen in England. This will no doubt cause untold damage to Scotland’s reputation in the rest of the UK.

“The Scottish Government should now step in to reduce these fee levels and to introduce minimum standards on bursaries to protect access for the poorest students, and save university principals from themselves."

Note 1 – Average fees in England (before bursaries and fee waivers) is £8,393 per year. This makes a typical degree worth £25,179 - www.offa.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/access-agreement-2012-13-tables-with -intro.pdf

Note 2 – Average degrees in Scotland are £27,083 - www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-15126753

Note 3 -

Where do RUK students study in Scotland?

* RGU announced three bands of fees. For these purposes we used their middle band which sets degrees at a cost of £27,000